Tea prices in Bangladesh plunged for a ninth straight week at a weekly auction on Tuesday, dragged down by inferior quality leaf near the end of the season, brokers said.
Bangladeshi tea fetched an average of 109.66 taka ($1.40) per kg at the auction, down from 125.85 taka in the previous week’s sale, when prices fell 12 percent, an official from National Brokers Limited said.
Nearly 2.4 million kg was offered at the auction centre in Chittagong, and 62 percent remained unsold. At the previous auction, 2.68 million kg was offered, of which nearly 50 percent went unsold.
“Buyers were seeking season-end supplies at lower prices, although more than half of the tea that was offered in the auction went unsold,” the official said.
The auction season, typically to end-March, has been extended through April.
Bangladeshi buyers have imported tea in bulk from neighbouring India, contributing to a glut in the domestic market and reducing demand at the auction, industry sources said.
Following are the results of the latest auction. Figures are in Bangladesh taka per kg.
BROKENS
Bold/Large Brokens 90-110
Medium Brokens 105-125
Small Brokens 110-130
Plain Brokens 40-55
FANNINGS
Best Fannings 170-180
Good Fannings 135-145
Medium Fannings 105-115
Plain Fannings 40-50
DUST
Pekoe Dust Not quoted
Red Dust 90-155
Dust 90-200
Churamoni Dust 90-305
-Reuters.
